Newcastle continued their recent fine run of form on Thursday, coming from behind to win at St. Mary's and extend their unbeaten run to nine games.

There were first Toon goals for Chris Wood and Bruno Guimaraes in reply to Stuart Armstrong's opener; the Kiwi's a trademark header and the Brazilian's an impish backheel in front of an ecstatic away support.

Allan Saint-Maximin's winner here in 2020 was vital to maintaining United's Premier League status and another three points at the same venue two years later helped open up a ten point gap on the bottom three.

That was the outcome of another positive night where the Magpies made light of their lengthening injury list as Watford, Leeds United and Norwich City were all being soundly beaten elsewhere.

Having broken the winless sequence against Burnley before Callum Wilson's latest absence and then lost Kieran Trippier after a sensational start to his time in Toon, Newcastle took to the field tonight with both Saint-Maximin (illness) and Joelinton (injury) missing from the squad - the absence of the latter meaning that Guimaraes made his first start.  

The Saints meanwhile were unbeaten in their last dozen home league and cup outings; only Wolves having left here with maximum points so far this season.

The hosts began confidently and Armando Broja blazed his shot over the bar midway through the first half, before Kyle Walker-Peters centred from the left flank, Mohamed Elyounoussi headed the ball back across goal and Stuart Armstrong nodded it home via a Dan Burn deflection on 25 minutes.

That was enough to wake up Newcastle and just seven minutes later they were level after Jonjo Shelvey expertly picked out Wood, who rose above Mohammed Salisu to beat SJP old boy Fraser Forster from six yards out.

The teams went in level after Che Adams chose power over precision with a 37th minute volley and smacked his effort off the Newcastle crossbar.

United gained a 52nd minute lead after Matt Targett's corner was headed across the six yard box by Burn; Bruno standing with his back to the goal and casually flicking the ball into the roof of the net.

And with the home side still reeling, an identical flag kick caused all sorts of problems for Southampton and almost brought a third away goal; Targett and Jacob Murphy both coming close during a manic moment in the box.

Hopefully the identity of the scorers irked home boss Ralph Hasenhuttl, who had made some inadvisable comments about new signings when this game was postponed at the turn of the year. He may also reflect that the ten week delay cost us the services of last season's top scorer, our most prolific assist provider and that colossus of a midfielder who only cost £40m....

2-1 ahead, a mixture of last-ditch defending and fine goalkeeping saw United preserve that lead; former Magpie Adam Armstrong firing wide and fellow substitute Shane Long unable to extend his scoring record against us. Joe Willock's magnificent "body on the line" block was also crucial.

Dubravka made a succession of stops to preserve the lead, before joining his colleagues in now- familiar scenes of post-match elation with fans who defied considerable logistical problems to get here in midweek. What was already a big ask was made even harder by a van fire on the A34 that delayed many.

That's now six wins out of seven - three in a row - for a rejuvenated Magpies side who have gained 21 points in nine games since losing to Manchester City 81 days ago.

When that run began, we'd taken just ten points from the previous 18 games: an incredible transformation.

Biffa